Yes decibels increase logrithmically. What does that mean with regard to Rob's statement. It means this 105 dB is approximately 1.5 times louder than 100 dB.



Now in the realms of realistic levels. An unbraked rifle is around 150 db and a "braked" rifle is 155 dB. That is an increase of ~ 3% and therefore amounts an audible increase in noise of ~ 1.3 times! I seriously doubt that you would notice the difference. I also seriously doubt that the decibel increase for A HIGH MUZZLE PRESSURE rifle is ONLY 5 dB! I would believe that a LOW MUZZLE PRESSURE rifle would be in the 5 dB range though.



I can tell you this for fact!



500 AHR braked is MUCH quieter than a braked 300 Win mag, or 300 Ultra. It is also much quieter than a braked 416 Weatherby or a hotrodded Rigby too. A 460 WM loaded to 2400 fps is also much quieter than the high pressure mid bores! My last guide stated that the 500 AHR's report with the muzzle brake was about the same as a 6" barreled 44 magnum pistol! I would have to agree with his assessment. He had absolutely no problems with the brake either.



The facts are that the higher the muzzle pressure and the more efficient the brake design, the LOUDER THE REPORT is to BYSTANDERS! The shooter WILL NOT notice much increase in report with the VAST MAJORITY of MUZZLE BRAKES!



I believe the distaste for brakes has more to do with MACHO MAN ideas than noise anyway. I know I have seen this behaviour first hand, and the associated SHITTY groups and badly hit animals.



ASS_CLOWN

I'm building a 6.5-284 right now for long range varmint shooting and it will have a brake on it, so I'm not "against" muzzle brakes. My only point is that they are a lot louder than the same gun and cartridge that does not have one and that they will damage your hearing at a faster rate than an unbraked gun.

BTW, I quit worrying about being "Macho" the same night Wifezilla delivered triplets. I spent the next two years changing, feeding and cleaning babies.

NO MUZZLE BRAKES! NO MUZZLE BRAKES! NO MUZZLE BRAKES! NO MUZZLE BRAKES! NO MUZZLE BRAKES! NO MUZZLE BRAKES! NO MUZZLE BRAKES! NO MUZZLE BRAKES! NO MUZZLE BRAKES! NO MUZZLE BRAKES! NO MUZZLE BRAKES! NO MUZZLE BRAKES! NO MUZZLE BRAKES! NO MUZZLE BRAKES! NO MUZZLE BRAKES! NO MUZZLE BRAKES! NO MUZZLE BRAKES! NO MUZZLE BRAKES! NO MUZZLE BRAKES! NO MUZZLE BRAKES! NO MUZZLE BRAKES! NO MUZZLE BRAKES! NO MUZZLE BRAKES! NO MUZZLE BRAKES! NO MUZZLE BRAKES! NO MUZZLE BRAKES! NO MUZZLE BRAKES! NO MUZZLE BRAKES! NO MUZZLE BRAKES! NO MUZZLE BRAKES!

Fjold,

Quote:

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I'm building a 6.5-284 right now for long range varmint shooting

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That is a cartridge with a high muzzle pressure. It will be an obnoxious mutter.

I do not speak from ignorance on this topic. A 500 Jeffery, or 505 Gibbs, or 585 Nyati, or 600 OK will not be that much noisier with a brake. They are ALL low muzzle pressure rounds. I honestly cannot tell the difference between braked and unbraked on the 500 AHR, most bystanders say they notice no difference either. Felt recoil is reduced probably around 15%, not much. The rifle still kicks far harder than a 10 lb 458 Lott.

Trashcanman,

If you cannot stand a brake, for whatever reason, then do as Tailgunner suggests. Stiff upper lip.

ASS_CLOWN

The key to cutting muzzle blast with brakes is to absorb more of the exiting gas energy and slow the gas ejection speed down. This is easily accomplished by porting the gas through the holes in a conventional brake into a dead space and forcing it to travel back down the outside of the bbl inside a collar chamber before it exits at right angles to the bbl through a second set of holes. A side benefit is that it makes the break up to 75% more effective...a 40% recoil reduction becomes a 70% reduction. This is achieved by changing the initial direction of the exiting gas flow from 90 degrees to 180 degrees.

Now, this design needs a fairly large dead space, so we are takling about a brake that will double the diameter of the bbl...pretty ugly. Neverthe less report will be LESS than a bbl with no brake and a 458 Lott will kick like a 270.

Pick your poison!

Sabot,
would it be possible to make it LONGER than wider?

jeffe

With a really big bore, I want a muzzle brake for sure, I shoot them, I don't show them off and make rash statments of how they don't recoil, that's pure BS...A big bore will literally kick the snot of you...I'm with Rob on this....

Wear hearing protection when you can, and if the big bore is as good as some think, then you only have to shoot once to kill anything....

A big bore such as a 500 or 460 or 577 will ruin your hearing with or without a brake..that is a true fact, and it will also give you bursitis in your old age, that is also a fact, unless you just put them in the gun rack for show, as I suspect most do...I know you seldom see one that has less than a mint bore!

I can shoot a 416, 404 and even a 470 without need for any kind of recoil reduction methods, which tells me that is my limit...If one needs any recoil reduction help, then he is already over his head and is going to have to compromise someplace to shoot it...plugs in the stock and forearm make a gun too heavy to pack all day in Africa, and a muzzle brake may do some damage to your hearing, the best problem solving method is to go to a lighter caliber if you need to do something about your guns recoil...That is just my opine.